Cadel
by Stevie Rae Johnson-The Red One
Summary: An American witch at St. Trinian's!  Lets see what chaos she can stir up! OC, no pairings, rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hullo! I recently saw both the St. Trinians movies, and just fell in love with the anarchy. So, here's this! With an OC, I'm sorry to say. But the girls seem to like her. (Of course they do..) Anyway, Here's this! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own St. Trinians. All rights go to Ronald Searle. **

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A battered blue car wound its way up the drive, going as fast as possible. When it pulled up to the front, the trunk popped open and a small girl got out of the passenger seat.

Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail despite the cool weather, baggy, ripped pants hid what the skirt didn't cover. The tie was loose, and the sleeves were rolled up to her elbows. All in all, she looked like she didn't give a damn.

She pulled on a knapsack, heading to the rear of the car to grab her footlocker. Then, once she had pulled her stuff out of the way, she slammed the trunk, slapped the driver window, an watched as the car drove off. When it was out of sight, she visibly relaxed, pulling a stuffed llama out of nowhere. She put it on her shoulder, grabbed her trunk, and walked through the door. "Yo." Her American accent was thick in the silence.

The secretary looked up, headphones hanging off one hand, phone in the other. "'Ello, love. You must be Cadel, Let me call one of the first years to get your stuff. While you wait, drop off all weaponry in the box behind you."

The girl, dubbed 'Cadel' turned, rummaging in her knapsack for a few seconds before pulling out a small pocket knife, and a large eagle hilted, leather sheathed one. She dropped the small one in, and walked back to the desk, tapping the secretary -Beverly, as her nameplate stated- on the shoulder. She looked up and smiled nervously. Cadel remained stonefaced. "It won't fit."

"Ah, yes. Jus' give it 'ere, Love. I'll make sure that Ms. Fritton gets it." Beverly held out her hand. Cadel spun the knife. Smirking when Beverly flinched, and handed it over, hilt-first. The blonde took it, and almost dropped it when Cadel let go. "Oh, um, wow."

Cadel nodded. "It's an athame. I'll need it back on request, once a month."

Beverly looked at her oddly. "Why the bloodly 'ell would you need it?"

Cadel's expression didn't change. "Religious reasons. You'll see next week, if you choose."

Beverly nodded. "Well. Seeing as your stuff has gone up, Annabelle will be down shortly to show you around," And without another word, she got up and walked away.

"Something has her wound up." Cadel jumped, then turned, seeing a girl about her age behind her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The girl put out her hand. "I'm Annabelle Fritton, head girl."

Cadel shook her hand. "Cadel Fry. It's nice to meet you."

Annabelle looked at her. "Your not from around here, are you?"

Cadel looked back. "What gave it away? The accent?" She asked sarcastically."No, I'm really not. My mom and dad just got divorced, and my mom thought moving us back to her home of 'Jolly Old England' would be a good idea. We used to live in America. Texas, to be specific."

Annabelle nodded. "Well, why don't we got you situated?" She started to walk off, leave Cadel to follow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own St. Trinians. All rights go to Ronald Searle. **

When they had gotten upstairs, Annabelle began to introduce Cadel to the cliques. The Posh Totties looked at her with disdain, the Rude Girls looked at her with something akin to hate, she and the Geeks eyed each other hopefully, and the First Years were running around too much to notice her. Cadel sat on the bed that had her footlocker beside it, petting her llama. "What are they doing?" She asked, looking at the First Years.

"They're betting."

"On what?"

"On how long you'll last." Cadel didn't look up, but she rolled to the right, back on her pillow as a bucket of feathers and green goo came down on where she had been a few seconds before. Everyone gawked, but Cadel sat up, unperturbed.

"What?" Everyone looked away. Ignoring the mess on her bed, Cadel grabbed her pyjamas out of her knapsack. She set her llama in her knapsack and put her knapsack in her footlocker, locked it, clicked the alarm that was on her necklace, and, ignoring the odd looks, she said loudly. "Do NOT touch my things while I'm gone. I have something to explain, but first I have to take a shower."

She walked pass the still staring masses, when one of the Rude Girls stood up and watched her go. Once Cadel walked around the corner, she counted to 10. Then she nodded. "Coast is clear."

Annabelle nodded, beginning to direct people what to do. "Lucy, hack the alarm. Bianca, get your bolt cutters ready. Chelsea, you and the other Poshies get your scissors ready to style." They all nodded, but as soon as Lucy plugged herself into the alarm system, two things happened. 1: Lucy's computer crashed, sending her into a pissed tizzy, and 2: A high pitched, loud as hell, buzzing noise had everyone's hands over their ears.

Cadel came back into the room, not at all worried by the buzzing. In fact, she acted like she couldn't hear it. She reached for her necklace, shut it off. The only noise in the room was Lucy's freaking out. Cadel walked over to her. "Lucy." No reaction. "Lucy!" Still nothing. "Lucy! Listen to me. I can fix your computer!" That got her attention. She practically latched herself onto Cadel, spewing fire as she asked how, over and over with veritable expletives. Cadel pried herself from Lucy's grip, and snatched the girls laptop from her.

Grabbing her iPod from... somewhere, she curled up in the corner, little snatches of song slipping from her lips. One bit that surprised everyone was: "My love for you was bulletproof, but you're the one who shot me. And god dammit, I can barely say your name. So, I'll try to write it and fill the pen with blood from the sink." But Cadel probably didn't even notice she was doing it. She didn't move from that corner for at least 20 minutes, but when she did, she grinned. "There. I fixed it _and_ gave you at least 30 upgrades." Lucy looked at her, wide eyed. She turned to everyone gathered around Lucy. " Now, I will say it one more time. _Leave my footlocker alone._ Otherwise I won't turn it off. I'll leave it on _all night._"

She began to walk towards the door, but Bianca grabbed her arm. "Oi, where do you get off, threatening us?"

Cadel was stonefaced. "I'm not threatening anyone. There is dangerous stuff in there. Stuff that could kill, and I'm not talking about weapons. Things that could make even the most toughened criminal go insane." She smiled, sweet as a 3 year old. "Now, please let me go. I need a shower. Oh, and just so you guys know, I'm legally blind without my glasses. So if one morning I ask 'you seeing people' to help me, that's why."

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Cadel stepped out of the shower, belting the last line of one of her favourite songs. "There's nothing to do, but scream at the drunken moon~." Then she squinted at where her clothes were supposed to be. Nothing. She glanced around, thinking that maybe her positioning was off. Nope, everything seemed to be in the right place. She walked carefully towards the counter, squinting hard. All she saw was a purple blotch. Her glasses. She stood there, finally within seeing range. All they left her was her glasses? Dumbasses. Cadel sighed. Choices, choices. Go streaking, or waste valuable energy? She put on her glasses. Streaking it was then. She strolled out of the bathroom, pushing her hair out of her face.

The Matron stumbled by, smashed. "New girl?" Cadel nodded. "You got spunk. The girls will like you." Cadel nodded again, then walked on, sometimes taking a running start and sliding down the hall. By the time she had actually reached the dorms, she was dry.

Cadel walked into the dorms to find herself being stared at again. She looked around. "What?" She asked, disgruntled. Annabelle cleared her throat.

"How the hell are you not fazed by the stuff we do?" She asked, eyes wide.

Cadel laughed, unlocking her trunk and pulling out spare clothes. "I was raised with two older sisters. I got into bitch fights, everyday. This?" She waved at the goo still on her bed. "Is nothing." Now dressed, she grabbed her llama and started towards the window. "Now, if you'll meet me out side, I have something to tell all of you." Ignoring all the hands reaching for her, sshe jumped out the open window.

==================-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **The song Cadel was singing is 'Bulletproof Love' by Pierce The Veil.**


	3. Chapter 3

The dorm went silent as they all waited for the sickening thud of a falling body. But it never came. They all ran for the window. There was Cadel, alive and well. She looked at the girls crowded around the window, the gestured for them to follow her down. Most took the stairs. Cadel was waiting for them, rubbing her knees. "Been awhile since I jumped from that high." Annabelle almost slapped her.

"Why the _hell_ did you just jump from a third story window?"

Cadel turned and set down her llama. "Because it's faster." Annabelle blinked as the other girl turned again, almost going in circles. "You might want to back up. The light gets really bright." Annabelle and the others that had followed backed up, forming a loose circle. Then Cadel did something unexpected. She took a penknife from her pocket and cut her fingertip. The blood welled, dripping onto the grass in front of her, and then she began to chant. _"Santra ba~ dra~ winza na~ wonpa to~ intrakantera_." A light formed in front of her, then grew blinding _"Santra ba~ dra~ winza na~ wonpa to~ intrakantera._" The light came from nowhere and everywhere, and most of the girls covered their eyes. But, as quickly as it came, it disappeared. They lowered their hands, and gaped. For where a stuffed toy once stood, there was now a fully grown, brown-and-white spotted llama. Cadel stood in front of it, arms around its neck.

Annabelle could hear her laughter, see the muzzle of the large beast nuzzling her hair. She walked slowly towards the girl, hands raised to show she meant no harm. The beast stared her down. "Uh, Cadel?" She asked, tugging on the other girls sleeve.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I guess I should explain." She whistled loudly to get everyones attention. "Guys! Can y'all come here please? Don't worry, Nitro won't bite. Or spit." They all move cautiously towards her, but well away from Nitro's back legs. "Thank you." Cadel 'flumped' down, legs crossed. Nitro eased himself down, and she leaned against him. The other girls followed their lead and sat down in the grass in front of her. "I am a witch." Cadel stated bluntly. A few girls gaped, but most listened. "A grey witch, which means I can do good or bad -otherwise known as white and black, respectively- Nitroglycerin-" She patted the llamas neck, and he bleated. "Is my familiar, and helps me control my magic. Any questions?" Hands shot up everywhere. Cadel hummed before pointing at Annabelle.

"Why was he a stuffed animal when you got here?"

Cadel rubbed Nitros ears. "It's extremely hard to travel with a full grown llama," She stated dryly. "Next?"

There were quite a few hands missing this time around, but there were still a couple, and that's what counted. "Where'd you learn to jump from tall places and stuff?" Asked a first year.

Cadel smiled mysteriously. "Places. Places and people. Next question?"

It was Annabelle again. "What was the athame for?"

Cadel facepalmed. "I _knew _I forgot something!" She turned to Nitro. "Why didn't you remind me?" Nitro bleated. "Don't give me that!You were there for the explanation!" He bleated again. "Agh, fine. Just give me a minute!" She called to the other girls, slashing another fingertip with her penknife. "_Mitero yo..! Ore no osoriosho sawo omoishiraseru temeini zenryoku de norotte yau" Haruka naru chi you shouken suru_!"

Her voice was a crescendo of jumbled syllables that made the girls hair stand on end, as if the very air was charged with electricity. Then, her voice reached the peak of the crescendo, hair floating above her shoulders. "Saa! Ideyo!" There was another flash of light, and there, in her hands, was the weapon in question. The sheath was missing, and Cadel's forehead wrinkled. "Dammit, someones been touching the blade again." She nudged Nitro. "You see that? Now I gotta fix all the unwanted crap hanging off the damn thing!" Nitro bleated. "I don't care if it's easier, I still gotta waste time and do it!"

The girls stared all through this seemingly two-sided conversation with a girl and her pet. "Uh, Cadel?"

Cadel didn't even look away from whatever she was doing. "I better stop talking to the llama, huh?"

"Yeah."

Cadel stood, and again, Nitro stood with her. She tucked the athame into her belt, and took Nitros ears. "Nitro you do not attack anyone unless tell you or they don't come from either the house or the gate. You understand me?" Nitro bleated. "Good, you bloody hoofbeast. Now go on!" She shooed him off. She sighed now, hands on her hips. "Do you guys have an electric fence?" asked Cadel idly. A chorus of 'no's' made her frown. "Oh, dear. Nitro gets to bite, then. Well, at least you don't have to worry about the security for a while."


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Cadel does when they all start getting up the next morning is gasp, and then wheeze, and then wheeze some more. She sits in bed for a minute, but her wheezing only gets worse. Her eyes grow wide, and the wheezing gets shallower and louder. She tries to get up and reach her bag, but her torso refuses to stay upright, head thumping against the pillow. Her panicked flailing catches the first years attentions, and Jemimah gets up and grabs her bag for her, but no matter how hard she tries, Cadel cannot get the zipper open.

Jem opens it for her, calmly talking despite her lisp, which is loud in the sudden eerie calm. The girls look on as Cadel grasps a weird thing and puts it in her mouth, pushing down the top and breathing. Those close enough to see are shocked to see that the girls fingernails are blue. She repeats the process a few times, and Jem is joined by Alex, who stutters but manages to keep calm all the same.

Once her breathing is almost normal, Cadel gives them both a small smile, touching her fingers to her lips and pulling them away, almost blowing them a kiss. Jem nods, and asks is she needs anything. Cadel makes another sign, as if she were writing on something. Alex quickly fetches a spare notebook and pen from a geek. Cadel scribbles quickly onto the paper, handing it over to Jem, who nods.

"No problem, Cadel. You sure you don't need anything else? I can get Matron up, she usually isn't hammered until later on." Cadel shakes her head, smiling. "If you're sure, but I have to tell Headmistress." Jem turns, and Cadel melts, shoulders slumping and sliding back under her blankets. Alex speaks softly to her for a few more seconds and she scribbles something back, blankets pulled over her head. Alex leaves soon after.

Annabelle catches Jem near the doors. She passes the note off to Alex, who tuts, but continues. "What the fresh hell was that about?"Annabelle asks, letting Alex pass. "Why isn't Cadel getting out of bed? What do you need to tell my aunt?"

Jem sighs, pulling at a bit of her hair. "She had an asthma attack." Jem lisps. "She couldn't breathe, Annabelle. Asthma attacks basically leave you feeling absolutely drained. A bad one like what Cadel had can put full grown men on their knees like no kick to the balls would." Annabelle smiles at the comparison, and Jemimah smiles as well, continuing as Alex passed them with a water bottle. "We need to tell your aunt because she needs to know of these things. Do you want to be the one to withhold information about one of her girls?"

Annabelle pales at that, and her aunt actually bypasses them straight into the dorm. Jem tries to stop her, tell her that Cadel is resting, Miss, give her a bit to recover, please, but the Headmistress continues in until she's standing at the foot of Cadel's bed, conferring with Alex. "How long was the attack?"

"Not very, miss. She started panicking early though, and tried to handle it without an inhaler for a few minutes, as well. So, about five minutes?" Alex asks, directing the question at Jemimah. The blonde nods.

Ms. Fritton tuts, shaking her head. "Did she say what set off the attack?"

"No'm, but she asked if the bed had been sitting about for awhile. I think she might figure that the dust set her off."

"What'd she ask for afterwards?"

"Water, and sleep. I'll get some of the other girls keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't strain herself too much."

"Did she actually talk after the attack?"

"No'm. At first, she used sign language, but then we got her a notebook and she wrote." Annabelle drifts over, standing near the head of the bed, and feels a tug on her shirt. Cadel shoves the notebook under her nose.

_'I'm fine, I promise. I just need to get the dust out of the nooks and crannies. If they're talking about putting me on bed rest, fine, but I'll need to be up and about in no less than four hours, even if it's just to go outside.'_

Annabelle looks at the girl. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Cadel?"

The other girl nods, scribbling in the notebook again_.'Good idea or not, I have to, otherwise Nitro will literally bust down the doors to get to me. Poor thing's probably already out of his mind with worry.'_

Annabelle shrugs. "If you're sure." She goes to the foot of the bed, relaying the message. Then she heads for where the Sopranos are standing, keeping an eye out on the counting of everyone's TNT Insurance. "I guess she doesn't need a makeover, then?"

Tania shrugs. "She's made quick and steadfast alliances. The others just love her, especially the younger ones. Did you know that she actually got Mackenzie to go to bed last night?" Mackenzie is one of the newest St. Trinian's girls, barely six years old. She's impossible to put down to bed, and anyone to manage this feat has yet to be discovered, even though they've all tried. Though, apparently they don't have to anymore.

"I was wondering where she was after dinner. How'd Cadel do it?"

"From what I hear, Cadel just read Harry Potter aloud until Mackenzie lay down and fell asleep curled against her, calm as a newborn bunny." Tara chimes.

"Mackenzie wasn't screeching or anything?"

"Oh, there was plenty of that. Cadel just ignored her and kept reading. Everyone else was astounded."

Annabelle shakes her head, curls bobbing around her ears. "As long as she keeps it up and inter-clique relations better from it, let her keep doing what she's doing."

"Sure, Annabelle." Tania smiles, nudging her twin with an elbow. "Put in another 5 on Cadel's chances." She says, and Annabelle raises an eyebrow.

"People are still betting on that?"

"Oh, yeah!" The twins nod. "Everyone thinks that her magic could prove to be an entertaining and invaluable variable. We got her permission last night, and everyone's been really worried about what the asthma attack means, but with some minor adjustments to their plans it should be fine."

Annabelle worries her lip, tongue catching the waxy apple flavor of her lip gloss. Her eyes slide over to where Cadel is resting, not far from where they're standing. Close enough where Annabelle can see the twitch of Cadel's fingers where they're wrapped around her blanket, see the rise and fall of her chest. "As long as she's okay with it..." Annabelle hazards, and the matching grins the girls give her are blinding.

Cadel sits up a few hours later, stretching languidly. Her spine cracks as she twitches this way and that; a glance at her phone tells her that it's just past 10:30; under the time she gave Annabelle after her asthma attack at 8:00, but her bones creak and groan and beg her to move, so she hauls herself out of bed.

She's been reassured by both Jem and Ms. Fritton that her absence wouldn't hold against her; it was pretty common, anyway. She passes girls planting items, and discussing various stock market items. She tries not to seem like she's eavesdropping, instead patting herself down to make sure that she has her inhaler and phone.

Once she's made it out of the dorm, she sighs, looking at the staircase nearby. Even if it wasn't the physical exertion of climbing _up_ the stairs, it still kind of kills her with all the energy going down them. She leans against the door before a lightbulb whacks her across the face. Uh, _duh_, just slide down the banister, nice one, Cadel.

She shocks quite a few people when she zooms past them, and she won't get any points with the landing she had, but she's down the stairs. Also, short shorts, while comfortable, are not meant for banister sliding.

She walks to the door, and not for the first time feels trapped by the feeling of four walls around her. She picks up the pace just a bit, the weight of the air pressing down on her, and when she pushes the doors open it feels like the entire building breathes with her.

She flops onto the steps, taking a deep breath of the open air. Then Cadel puts her fingers to her mouth and lets out a good taxi cab whistle. She prefers using bush calls, they travel faster, but require more air than she's willing to give up at the moment.

She tilts her head back, leaning against the stone railing. The clouds drift overhead, white on blue. She doesn't wait long. Soon the clomp of hooves on grass reaches her ears, and a familiar bleat has her smiling and pushing herself up to give the llama a hug. The almost-gone wheeze in her lungs disperses completely, and Cadel sighs in relief. Nitro bleats at her again.

"Sh, I'm fine, you worrywart. I slept it off after blowing the dust out of the nooks and crannies."

Another bleat. Cadel rolls her eyes and sits back down, leaning against the stairs and absently picking burrs out of the fur on Nitro's legs.

"I had to make sure you weren't going to bash the doors in, you fucking idiot. You always worry far too much after I've had an attack."

Bleat.

"Only when we're separated my ass. You nearly broke form in the city when that lady accidentally blew smoke in my face and I started wheezing."

Bleat.

"Oh, shut up." Cadel says fondly, hoisting herself back up and walking him next to the highest part of the steps. "Now, stay still. I want to explore. You found anything useful?"

Nitro gives a long bleat as Cadel braces a knee in his side and hoists herself onto his back. "That little, huh? That's fine, I can send for the right stuff. Plus, you know I have enough to last for awhile."

Nitro huffs, and Cadel laughs, pressing a knee into his side. "You hate saddles anyway."

**BUBUDUDA! (shhhh ignore the long ramblyness of this chapter) I felt that Cadel needed a common weakness that some people can relate too, and having had problems with my long thought dormant asthma, I figured why the hell not.**


	5. Chapter 5

Burying her fingers in the rough wool of Nitro's coat, Cadel sighs. The weather is wonderfully pleasant, the sun warming her back and drawing the smell of honeysuckle and wildflowers (And old burn, oddly) from the wooded area surrounding the school.

Cadel presses her knee into Nitro's side, feeling his fur prick at her inner thigh. "I _really_ should've changed." She says, tugging at the fur on Nitro's neck to get him to stop.

Nitro bleats at her, and continues to walk. Cadel groans. "You know, I've never heard the saying 'as stubborn as a llama', but I think I might pick it up, because I've met more compliant mules."

Nitro huffs, stepping delicately over a patch of blackberry brambles and startling a rabbit. He snorts as they enter another clearing, smaller than the one the school is settled in but no less open. Cadel cheers, hopping off a now-grazing Nitro to head for a batch of wildflowers. The clearing/meadow is beautiful, and Cadel's glad that Britain's soil is very rich, because it's full of healthy, medicinal plants. Cadel picks her away around a patch of nettle and nudges away a bit of clover with her foot, lowering herself onto the cleared bit of land.

Her hair blows in her face, into her mouth. She pops her lips to get it away. "Pah, gross." She says, sticking out her tongue. Once she has all of her hair pulled off her tongue, she ties it back, trying to keep nettle out of her shorts.

Cadel hums, fingers braiding together lavender and borage into crowns and wreaths to put in and around the school. "Lavender is good for relaxation," She recites, stripping leaves from the borage flowers stem, "Also good for scorpions, but that's not really a problem here." For luck against allergies she adds in some nettle, but it stings, so it only gets added to Nitro's.

She looks up from where she's hunched over her flower crowns, glancing around and looking for Nitro, but not seeing him. A jolt of panic floods her veins, but she shoves it down, putting her fingers to her lips and letting out another sharp whistle.

Nothing. No sound of hooves or a far off bleat. Cadel scrambles to her feet, swearing. She walks quickly to where she'd last seen him, following the downtrodden and chewed grass. Not far from it is Nitro, in plush form. Cadel grabs him quickly, heaving a sigh of relief.

This means trouble. Nitro _hates_ plush form, and even if he didn't, there's no way he could've gotten into it himself. Cadel figures he didn't have time to bleat to warn her, as it's the only way he could. The light show she'd put on for the girls last night had been just that, a show. Besides, the spell she uses to switch him is personal and private.

To force him into the opposite form takes a huge outward swing of power. There are a few ways these could've gotten Nitro; A new witch. A malicious searching spell. Maybe a potion gone wrong. Cadel is leaning towards a malicious searching spell; pure dark magic takes a lot of energy to use and control. She would guess new witch if she hadn't sent out a lighter searching spell of her own on her first day here. To be safe, she does it again.

Nope, no nearby witches. That means someone sent the energy here. That could be any number of people, but first things first. She has to warn the others. Cadel bites into her thumb, wincing at the sharp pain as her teeth break skin. She smears the blood over Nitro's muzzle, whispering the spell between his ears.

Nitro bleats worriedly. "I'm fine," she assures him, hoisting herself onto his back. "Unlike you, I still have my flower crown." And without letting him respond, Cadel kicks him into a run.

* * *

><p><strong>Whoops, I plotted. This was seriously an accident, guys, I swear. It was just going to be Cadel recovering but then Nitro shrank and it just... oops. <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

Cadel finds Annabelle checking over a shipment of something whenever she gets back, swinging off of Nitro with ease. People swarm around the crate and carry things away; balls the color of eggs and field hockey sticks. "Whoa, what's with the entrance?" Annabelle asks, glancing up from taking inventory.

Cadel shrugs, grabbing Annabelle's arm and pulling her away from the crowd slightly. "I need to tell you something."

Annabelle's face immediately goes serious, and she gestures for Lucy to take over before pulling Cadel further aside. "What?"

Cadel glances around at the people staring at her in undisguised interest at both her new-girl status and the llama hovering close by. "Not here. Do you have somewhere private?"

Annabelle nods, gesturing towards the school. "Meet me up on the roof in about half an hour, give yourself time to change." Cadel grimaces but then grins, embarrassed flush crawling up her neck from under her t-shirt. "Yeah, thanks."

From behind her there are several startled shrieks, and Cadel barely has time to whip around before a wall of pain slams into her mind, making her drop to her knees, retching. Thankfully there isn't anything in her stomach for her to bring up, otherwise it'd be all over the lawn. Cadel grits her teeth as Annabelle crouches next to her, calling out orders. "No, don't. Hand me Nitro and take me to the roof like you planned to before. Changing will have to wait."

The roof is blessedly quiet after the bustle of the school, and Cadel takes a second just to clutch Nitro close and breathe through the worry of what's going on, sitting on a bench and leaning her head back gratefully. The warm sun that was so comforting earlier is no comfort now; what can it do against a witch?

Cadel feels the bench flex as Annabelle sits next to her, not pushing just yet. Cadel heaves a sigh, fingers tensing and relaxing around Nitro's soft body. "Remember how, when I got here, I said I was a gray witch, and I could do evil or good magic?"

"Yeah. What's going on, Cadel?"

"When an evil witch sends out a searching spell looking for someone or something, it's a huge outward swing of power. Like-" Cadel pauses, face scrunching up as she imagines a scenario. "Imagine all the power in a large bomb. Not hard, right? Now, imagine forcing all of that power to move in a single direction. That's what basically just happened. It's enough magical power to force Nitro to switch forms against his will and my own, and I managed to avoid it the first time by sitting in a field; I guess it had sage hidden somewhere, which is why I wasn't in a ball of pain when I arrived."

"But not so much with the second one, obviously. Whoever it is is getting more confident, that was a very powerful spell. I need to know; is there anything going on that would invite random people from god knows where onto school grounds?"

"Just the field hockey games. You don't think...?"

"I don't have time to think. Right now all that matters is that you don't tell_ anyone_. There's a good chance that this witch is acting independently, and I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"And if she's not?"

"I'll let you know, I swear. But we don't know that."

Annabelle stands suddenly, bursting into motion. "We don't know anything!"

Cadel stares up at her impassively. "You're right, we don't. I don't like going into a situation blind anymore than you do, but that doesn't change the fact that we have to do it."

Annabelle scoffs in the back of her throat, low and almost a growl, before stalking out the door. The other girls hover outside, listening intently. Annabelle walks away and they follow.

"This is absolutely mental, Annabelle!" Bianca says, gesturing behind them to the roof. "Witches and spells? What is this, Hogwarts?"

Annabelle shrugs, shoulders rigid and straight. "Look, what we saw last night was no trick, and neither was her beast changing shape right after she got back. Whatever is going on, we can only be as prepared we usually are, as much as I hate to say it."

The girls scoff. "Why don't we just ask her to prepare us then?" Zoe asks.

"I don't think she can."


End file.
